Pentagon Lost Track of $15 Billion: Whoops!

One of the favorite complaints by conservatives is how their tax dollars are spent. That makes sense, because they spend so much of their time and energy cutting down the number of dollars they actually have to pay in taxes. So, the dollars they can't protect become paramount--or so they say.

They whine about tax dollars going to school programs they disagree with, or "entitlements" for the "undeserving" (somehow Social Security Insurance goes into this category), anything to do with benefits for gay people, or controversial art projects. And yet, mysteriously, the incredible cost of the Iraq War gets left out of their spending worries. Much like it gets left out of the budget. It's incredibly hypocritical, and also predictable. Now, the Pentagon has lost $15 billion dollars. Conservatives will shrug, but then likely trumpet McCain's campaign issue of "cutting earmarks." Penny-wise and pound foolish? Or just foolish?

Shit, when I worked for a bank, I got put on probation for cashing a fraudulent $300 check. This was after saving the bank from a $2,500 loss, too. Is anyone being reprimanded--at least--at the Pentagon for this little bitty $15B error?

[Excerpt]

Spending On Iraq Poorly Tracked

The inspector general for the Defense Department said yesterday that the Pentagon cannot account for almost $15 billion worth of goods and services ranging from trucks, bottled water and mattresses to rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns that were bought from contractors in the Iraq reconstruction effort. . .

Read more at: Washington Post

Iraq: 5 Years & 4,000 Lost. . .Are We Winning Yet?

Photo from Reuters

As I posted earlier, we have sadly reached a grim milestone of 4,000 US servicemen dead in Iraq. This news carries no glee or celebration from the left, despite what the knuckleheads at Free Republic and elsewhere would like you to believe. What it does is give us a newsworthy reason to re-examine the whole idea of Iraq. It gives us (as we humans attach numbers to round numbers) cause to ask, "what did they die for?"

There has been a lot of caution given to even talking about the subject. The very last thing anybody wants is for the families of these soldiers to feel their son or daughter died in vain. But if it is true, what then? We're 5 years in, and nobody will clearly spell out what "victory" is. Or even what the mission is. We're told we can't pull out when things are going well, and we can't pull out when things are going poorly. The badly named, now year-long "surge" is allegedly working--meaning we have to stay. Huh?

We're constantly told that "we're fighting them over there, so we don't have to fight them over here," a ludicrous statement only a child could believe. The spectre of Al Qaeda is attached to virtually any threat, and used as a bogeyman. Much of America has gotten to the point where we don't trust anything we hear out of this administration.

The President himself seems to think that we'll only realize far in the future what a great President he was, and how brilliant his Iraq invasion will be viewed. Maybe he's right. I think he's delusional.

[Excerpt]

Bush Says Iraq War Deaths Not in Vain

President Bush has marked the deaths of 4,000 U.S. forces in Iraq, saying that their sacrifices have "laid the foundation for peace for generations to come."

The president made his comments at the State Department after a two-hour briefing on Iraq and U.S. diplomatic efforts around the world.

Speaking of the 4,000 deaths, Bush said that "I hope their families know that citizens pray for their comfort. . ."

Read more at: AP

Iraq War American Military Casualties at 4,000

Photo from source, Raw Story

We knew this unfortunate number was coming. It doesn't make it any easier. Especially when the supposed mission for our soldiers is "fighting for our freedom." The Iraq War/Occupation, like Viet Nam before it, just doesn't feel like it has anything to do with our freedom. Every death is sad, and it could be legitimately argued that this war has had far fewer deaths than most others. But that fact doesn't make it any easier to take.

[Excerpt]

4000 Killed

MSNBC is reporting that the death toll for U.S. solders in Iraq has reached 4000:

Four U.S. soldiers were killed by a bomb blast in southern Baghdad late Sunday, raising the death toll for American forces since start of the war to 4,000, according to the Pentagon. . .

Read more at: Raw Story

This Modern World: The Cost of War

This isn't my first link to This Modern World, a fantastic comic strip by Tom Tomorrow. I'm sure it won't be my last. Tomorrow has an amazing gift for succinctly explaining the issue he's lampooning in a very small space, and does so with great wit.

In this strip, he tackles the cost of the Iraq War, and the amount we were told it was going to cost. If anyone had guessed the war would ultimately cost $3 trillion, would anyone have ponied up for it? Does anyone know what we're even supposed to be accomplishing?

And I swear, if I hear Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity or any other right-wing boob complain about "your tax dollars" going for something they deem frivolous, I swear I'm going to scream. Again.

Enough ranting. Check out the full strip here: This Modern World at Salon

More on the Cost of the Iraq War

I just posted a video that helps explain just what the Iraq War costs. This video from Brave New Films takes a more entertaining--even funny--tack, but it's sadly, dark humor.

Credit Bill Day

War Tax?

A war tax. A great idea, whose time has come. Which is why it will never happen. . .

[Excerpt]

Obey: No Iraq supplemental until course change

President Bush will not get an Iraq war supplemental spending bill until he changes course on the war, House Appropriations Chairman David Obey (D-Wis.) said Tuesday. The powerful lawmaker also voiced his support for a “war tax.”

For the rest, read: TheHill.com

Soldiers Sufferning from Traumatic Brain Injuries

Photo from source, news.aol.com

This is a tragic and sad story, but I fear we don't hear enough about the cost of this war, outside of dollars and cents. It is rare to even hear the casualty numbers these days (currently 3,774 Americans, 4072 total for coalition; source: icasualties.org).

With all the talk of the "surge," its alleged success, and the likely continuation of this war at least until then end of 2008, I think it's important to expose ourselves to the uncomfortable facts of war.

[Excerpt]

Brain Damage Plagues Thousands of GIs

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Sept. 9) - The war in Iraq is not over, but one legacy is already here in this city and others across America: a "silent epidemic" of brain-damaged soldiers.

Thousands of troops have been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury, or TBI. These blast-caused head injuries are so different from the ones doctors are used to seeing from falls and car crashes that treating them is as much faith as it is science. . .

Read the whole story at: news.aol.com